THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1912. AN EMPIRE FLEET.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10713, 17 October 1912, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1912. AN EMPIRE FLEET.

From Dr William Malonoy, a member of the Commonwealth Parliament, we have received a pamphlet outlin--1 iug a scheme propounded by himself for building an Empire Fleet to protect the trade routes of the Empire, and to'protect Britain's food supply by means of savings (capital and interest) for ten years in the Australian public debts. . Dr Maloney, it may be mentioned, has been identified with Victorian politics for over twenty years. He was once regarded as a red-hot Republican, but a visit to the Far East has induced him to modify .his opinions, and he lias returned an ardent Imperialist. Jti the .course of ( a somewhat remarkable speech in the. Commonwealth House of Representatives on August 25th he said : "Ever since my visit to Japan, when my eyes were first permitted to see something of the. concentrated millions of the East, and when a casual observer in the streets of Tokio, or any other Japaneso city, could see scarcely anything in the ordinary life of the people to indicate that a great war was going on with one of the most powerful nations of Europe, the subject to which T propose to address myself to-day has occupied much of my thought. Some honourable members here wlio have n knowledge of the political life of Victoria in past years may remember that T was returned to the State Parliament as an avowed Republican, but I returned from that visit to the East with my views modified, and with the intention, so far a* T was able, by thought or speech, to keep firm and strong the links that bind us with the Home Land. Whether we regard danger a s likely to come from the northern lands or from the east, one must study the question of military preparation, keeping always in view the fact that *the greatest captains liave ever said that to secure peace we must he prepared for war." Dr Maloney proceeded to quote from Mr Archibald Hurd's latest work "The Com-1

maud of the Sea," a nd illustrated his remarks with 'jopious extracts from speeches made by the First Lord of the Admiralty. Air Balfour and Mr Bonar Law. The Leader of the Opposition in the British House of Commons is quoted as saying— Ten years ago we not only had the command of the sea, but wo had the command of every sea. What is the position now? We have the command of no sea in the world except the North Sea at.this moment. . The. change has I wen taking place beforo our eyes, and mnny times I have myself been reminded of what happened in the time of the declino of the Roman Empire, when pressure at the heart forced them to call their legions home to Rome. That has happened to us. Wo have had to call hack our legions, ''add to call them back for precisely the same 'purpose.' Nothing • shows; more completely how that has happened than an incidental I remark of the First Lord of tho. Ad'miralty. when he said that a ship Ave intended to send to China, and a vessel belonging to New Zealand had been retained for home service. l)r Malouey, after dealing at length with the perils that beset the British nation, says he thinks ho can see a way whereby, without drawing | upon the Commonwealth's ordinary revenuft, the Homeland can be assisted. He suggests—"The Government to forthwith appoint a,Commission to visit England, with a (view of converting the State public (loots of. Australia into Commonwealth stock. : "The; Commission shall consist of twelve members, five appointed by I the''■.Commonwealth Parliament (including: the High Commissioner), and six representing and appointed Ivy the States, with a President, to be appointed by the Governments of the Commonwealth States, and to have only one vot<». ...-.•:• "That tho Commission have plenipotentiary authority to enter into underwriting arrangements with the leading financial houses. "That, concurrently with f he issue of the future ■'Commonwealth'- stock authorised under, such arrangements, the holders of the State public dob's be invited to consent to the acceptance of equivalent Commonwealth stock, , "That, dependent upon' such- <;onversioni, the Imperial Governments be assured by the State Governments, through the. .Commonwealth Government, that the saving of capital and the animal interest .during the next ten years so caused by such conversion shall be devoted to the building of nn Imperial Dreadnought Fleet in Great Britain for protecting the trade routes of the Empire, thus as t suring the food supply of the United Kingdom." The above - scheme has the merit of originality.' Whether it is capable of (practical application at n time when fates of interest are phenomenally high ■ and there is likely to be a sevpre drain upon the resources of capital, for war purposes, is another question. The proposal to consolidate the loans of the Commonwealth is by no means new; but the obstacles in the way have hitherto proved unsurmountahle. Tt is noit quite clear whether l)r Maloney's proposal involves the abandonment of theCommonwealtii policy of providing nn Australian Fleet. At a first glance it would seem that the suggestion is more on the lines of the New Zealand policy of making a monetary grant to the Imperial Parliament for expenditure is, the, construction of ships in England. It is significant and hopeful that a one-time red-hot Republican 'should be found espousing the cause of Imperialism, and the last sentence in Dr Maloney's excellent speech is so full of patriotism that we are impelled to reproduce it. , He says:— "The seat' of the British Empire rs in Europe; the heart of the race is in the capital of the English world. '• If that lie injured or destroyed, then all our hopes and ideals, the greatest tho world has seen, must sink into the--gloom of oblivion, and the world be the poorer, that our civilisation, with all its wider life and greater opportunities, was strangled ere it had a chance."